My honda accord is an 05 model, and ever since my mother passed it down to me a year ago, EVERYTHING has been breaking. As of a week ago, any time I turn on the ac, the car shudders violently. It first started when I was parked with the engine on for about an hour, and a low screeching noise along with a smell like burning rubber started emanating from the engine. The noise stopped whenever I turn off the ac, and now it shudders when I turn it on. Along with that, for the last several months before it completely screwed up, the air being pumped out of the left side of the vehicle was noticeably warmer then the right side. And lastly, starting today, the back center light is fine, but the brake lights don’t turn on when I hit the brakes but do turn on when I turn on the headlights. What is going on?
We can probably identify the causes of these problems as a seized A/C compressor or pulley, and an unrelated electrical problem caused by corroded connections to ground. Yet the main issue is why you have been ignoring car problems for so long?
You can continue to go without A/C if you wish but the brake light problem is a serious safety issue. If you indicated the ability and desire to fix the car yourself we could guide you. That doesn’t seem to be the case. Just get the car into the shop ASAP.
This is just normal & routine stuff that happens with cars. As SteveF noted, your AC compressor has some kind of a problem. Many AC compressors go a lot longer than 7 years, but 7 years is also a respectable life, especially if the AC has seen a lot of use.
The variation between driver/passenger side in air temp has nothing to do with that. It will be a problem either in the ductwork or climate controls. Does this car have dual driver/passenger controls? Automatic controls or manual?
The brake light thing is yet a third issue - but it doesn’t sound like a major one. It sounds like an incredibly routine need to replace the bulbs. When you turn your headlamps on, what you see coming on are your tail lights, not the brake lights. You brake/tail lights are probably done by the same 2-filament bulb. One filament is tail light. The other is brake light. Your brake light filaments are just burned out. I.e. you have to replace a couple of light bulbs.
As fro the brake lights, Honda has a bulb monitor usually located inside one of the brake light housings. This device lights up a bar under your door open indicator on the instrument panel. If the bar is lit when you step on the brakes, then the filaments of one or both side brake lights is out. The center brake light is not served by this module.
If the bar is not lit, and both brake lights are out, then it is possible that either the module is defective or has simply come unplugged. You may have to go to a dealer for this one as few people outside Honda even know the thing exists.